I've been catching up on some music this week.
As mentioned before, LCD Soundsystem released their new album. Generally, i'm not a huge fan of the band but i liked this album quite a bit. The music goes from saccharine to surprising harsh guitarwork. A nice surprise. Need to listen to it a bit more, but American Dream and Emotional Haircut are fun songs. Emotional Haircuts first minute almost sounds Joy Division-esque, which is a very welcome surprise. Oh Baby is a very typical LCD song, a good one of those.
I've heard 3 songs of the new Foo Fighters album so far. Quite like Sky is a Neighborhood and The Line . Run doesn't really speak to me. Will have to listen to the whole thing.
The National also released a new album. Very solid, around the level of High Violet. Didn't really care about their album before this one, so this was a nice return to form in my eyes. Especially The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness is an awesome song (and name). There's a slightly wider variety in the music than usual, probably best demonstrated by Turtleneck.
Everything Everything's new album was okay. Liked their debut album quite a bit, but you definitely have to be able to put up with the singers voice. This one is very polished and has some pretty good songs on it ( Good Shot, Good Soldier, Can't Do)
St Vincent also released 2 new songs. Think they're both okay, but not amazing. (New York, Los Ageless) Especially New York felt a bit like a plain pop song spruced up by Annie singing motherfucker to make it less forgettable. A song like Krokodil does a better job to show off her being a tough chick than swearing in an otherwise sugar sweet pop song like New York.
Rostam (ex-Vampire Weekend)' s Bike Dream felt a bit like Vampire Weekend's first album blended with Rostam's Iranian roots. Lighthearted & fun song.
The Horrors seem to keep making the move towards full synthpop from their early days as goth / shoegaze / punk band. Something To Remember Me By is a good song, but i can see how early fans will see it as them fully selling out. I do dig this sound, but i thought Primary Colours was an amazing album and would love some more of that sound. Don't forget the guitars please :)
Ariel Pink also dropped some songs. They aren't as good as his last album, but i do dig the hazy 80's vibe of Feels Like Heaven
The XX released the pretty good On Hold. Too bad they stopped making that distinct sound of the debut album, but this is an okay popsong.
Liam Gallagher apparently went solo and created Chinatown. Don't think it's anything special but it's pleasantly light to listen to. Normally Liam is all about huge hooks and a wall of sound. Is this Brexit-pop instead of Britpop?
Final, but not least, Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile are making an album together. Over Everything is not a song that excites me greatly, but it sounds exactly like you think those two artists jamming together would sound. Hopefully they will create some cool songs that go beyond feeling like a jam-session.
Ohh, i forgot. Radiohead re-released OK Computer with 3 songs that have been played live since the 90's. All 3 are great. Especially Man of War and Lift are amazing, but I Promise is no slouch neither.
I also forgot to mention the new Queens of the Stone Age album. Don't think it's as good as Like Clockwerk, but still pretty good.
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